Jaune: Center of the Multiverse

by SGArkosfan

Jaune Arc is a not-so simple young man, with a past shrouded in secrecy. He is also the only chance for salvation in many worlds within the Multiverse. What! Why is that dunce so important! Shut up Ice Queen! *Ahem* Anyway, join us as we explore the past and the potential futures of this brave soul. Adventure awaits! With a sprinkle of romance later on.

17. Revenge of the Arcs Pt 3

Chapter 16: "Revenge of the Arcs" Pt. 3

Wow, so many reviews and follows! Over a thousand for each, and I'm still going strong! And the favorites have reached almost a thousand too! Not too bad for a story with 16 (going on 17) chapters in my opinion. I'm also in 6 communities now!... don't know how that happened but still, that really brings me joy :) As for the views so far, let's see...Holy crap 0.o... Over 320,000 views! HAHAHA! This is awesome, WOO! Thank you guys, all this support really warms my heart! Now, onto the revieeeewwws!

Anagennisi: Thank you for the claim, hope that I can live up to your expectations as we move forwards in the future.

the Composcreator: It's actually a lighthearted one. It's also a future scenario, I believe that after this arc, everyone deserves a break of the killer Jaune of this future, and move on to where Jaune isn't a murderer. Hold on to your hats, because next time: he's gonna be a dad! And well, this was a future scenario, one where we get a HUGE exposition dump, but will probably be the last one for awhile. The other future ones will be more like snippets of the future, like "who will Jaune hook up with?" That sort of thing.

guillermocejas767: Already in the works, though Jaune is Captain Jack here. Your idea does make sense, I agree... But I really want Jaune to face the kraken!

Longfang dark: Not a problem. As for your suggestion, well I do like Sasori. He's actually one of the few characters I respected and liked from Shippuden. Never really cared for Persona growing up, unfortunately. Haven't played the game, nor have I looked at any of the playthroughs. I do agree that a modular weapon would fit Jaune better than a more complicated mechashift one. The 'classics' as it were. The two swords with reverse grip just reminds me of Ahsoka, and not in a positive light. Didn't like her in Clone Wars, and was barely tolerable for me in Rebels. I don't know about the different Faunus levels, I don't hate it I just don't know how to respond to it. As for the quotes, I do like some of them ('You want to kill me, fine take a number and wait your damn turn' was awesome). I hope that this was satisfactory, I didn't know what you meant by semi-individually so I just answered them all as best I could.

Marele Solomonar: Glad you liked it, and I can understand the sentiment. Trust me, I don't take it personally. As you can see, this is rather long. It's so that I can explain myself better, don't think of me as just harsh. To me, I think that with certain reaction fics, Harems are just more likely to happen. While not ALL of them are like that, they do make up a fair good portion. Which actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it; the multiverse is large, and at some point everyone will see at least one version of Jaune that the other girls would like. And when they see possible futures with the guy like in my fic (along with another surprise that'll be readily apparent soon), they would just pursue him even more. A harem is simply a stacking of the deck, if you will. A more likely chance to get the future a particular group would collectively want (with a few changes so that they could avoid the stuff they didn't like). Is this really fair for Jaune? Not really no, but like a lot of people, I just want him to have a bit more happiness and love in his life. Also, regarding Jaune being OP, it's actually rather simple. Jaune is not a powerhouse in canon, by any means. He's also rather prideful while having little confidence in his abilities (not a great combination, especially for a teenager). He's an underdog basically, and while it is one of the key reasons why he's so well liked, it's also a huge possible detriment for when he goes into these types of stories. I've only ever read one other fic that deals with this issue rather well: 'Viewing Jaune Arc: the Elemental Swordsman'. Here, Jaune is constantly seeing his other, more powerful self, in action while having the girls falling in love with him. However, he hasn't done anything to warrant this newfound affection, and is clearly upset about it because they aren't his own feats. It actually raises a great point that most other react fics just skim over completely: We as humans do not like being compared to others that are naturally better than us, let alone when that better person is basically just another you. With no special powers to call his own, Jaune was constantly surrounded by people who wished to express their 'love' for him, while at the same time doubted said love at points and thought that it would be better if he was replaced with his other. The story is rather good, and I highly recommend you read it. It's a harem one, but it's done in a way that's more believable in my opinion. Having his own power, even if it's in this story only, would make watching his other more powerful selves more bearable for him when he eventually arrives. And seeing possible futures of himself instead of just separate universes with their own separate Jaune, it will give the girls more legitimacy in expressing their feelings for him. They aren't in love with more powerful versions of him, they are in love with the man he could potentially grow up to be, which to me is much more impactful. Plus, like I've told others before, the only reason he is OP right now is simply because he died and came back to life. The power he unlocked, is one that will only be able to manifest if he undergoes a similar experience, which will be difficult due to his friends wanting to keep him safe (and alive), and the villains will be at least hesitant to try (honestly, I think that Raven would be one of the only few who would give it a shot). Also, due to the fact that he is prophesized to destroy the gods, he'll need to have a power that was not granted to humanity so that they won't know how to fight it (so Aura, Dust, and magic are off the table here), while also explaining how untrained Jaune is, how he never displayed this power before, and lastly make it sort of believable. Naruto? That requires years of training which he obviously doesn't have. Dragon Ball? You wanna talk about him being too OP, not to mention that again it requires a lot of training. Fullmetal? Personal preference of not touching that but also because that's not powerful enough. Saitama? Same as DB. Bleach was really the only option i could reasonably go with since Ichigo had god killing power (if Aizen had to lower his power level in order for normal humans to even sense it (who died at the same time), then how powerful was Ichigo if even Aizen couldn't sense it?), received and lost that power in less than a year, and he had very little experience in training with it yet still managed to accomplish more in a few months than anyone else with centuries of practice. I had no choice but to have Jaune be Ichigo. As for the evil part, well that's actually up to the reader to decide. Was what the Arcs did morally right? No. Was it a human thing for them to do? Yes. Humanity as a whole are very irrational and violent creatures, prone to acts of destruction to the environment and to each other. The peace we are currently experiencing is the longest peace our species has ever had, and still there are acts of brutality and death being committed. Not only that, but the Arcs are not just a clan, but a government as well, and every government has done something horrendous in the past. You see, the Arcs (at least in this story) are old. Much older than any of the 4 Kingdoms. This means that in order for them to continue to prosper with the threat of the Grimm ever constant, they had to structure themselves into a government of sorts so that they would be better organized (hence the need for things like a Council). And contingencies were needed since they would have been wary of Huntsmen and Kingdoms once they started popping up in the world (as any leader would do in a similar situation). Order 66 was one such contingency. It was not like in SW where it was a plan to rid the galaxy of good, this was a plan made by the Arcs centuries ago in order to outline how to deal with a possible legitimate threat to them. It was also only meant to deal with the Huntsmen while they were still low in numbers, not when they were the Kingdoms' main source of protection against the Grimm. In my story, the Huntsmen are much older than in canon, which actually really bugs me. How were Huntsmen able to create such an intricate training system meant to battle Grimm from scratch 80 years ago? That, to me, doesn't make much sense. They had to have gotten specialized trainers from somewhere, and the Kingdoms mostly used rank and file soldiers, so how did the schools acquire these specialized warriors in the first place unless every soldier had similar training to Huntsmen (which sounds quite stupid as the Kingdoms no longer have standing armies apart from Atlas)? Not only that, but the infrastructure needed to make something like this would've needed decades alone to advocate (especially after a devastating world war, and plummeted populations due to Grimm incursions). Sorry, got side tracked, anyway, the Kingdoms still used armies during this time, and the Huntsmen here were more like elite shock troops; all this is something that the Arcs would've known and needed to plan for. In war, it's a sound military strategy to wipe out an enemy's elite soldiers early on. Does that make what the Arcs did justifiable? No. However, nations have always made plans that would see the destruction of their allies should they ever turn against them. Look at War Plan Red for the US. It was made during a time when the US and UK were allies (1927), as a plan to win a hypothetical war against them. It even had Canada, our most closest and dearest ally, listed as the plan's primary target for conquest and denying the UK a very valuable asset. History has proven that no government is without its skeletons, as such we can not view the Arcs as just a clan out for revenge, but what a government body would do in a similar situation. Preemptive strikes against a country's most lethal assets are a must in order to bring a swift and decisive victory in war; the concepts of good and evil, that's all irrelevant. In battle, you do what must be done in order to survive, the simple truth in all wars. That is why whether to label the Arcs as good or evil is up to the readers, war is almost never so morally black and white (unless you're the winners, but that's a different argument). I rather enjoy these types of reviews, let's the people critique a person's work but not being complete dicks while writing them :)

Guest: I've read your review, and yes I have watched WWE in the past. I'll think about it, no promises but these are some good ideas and make sense given the character's traits.

The Grim Blade: I'm actually glad you point this out. The Grimm would've certainly made a huge comeback with all the negativity going around, but the armies that Jaune sent out never left their posts within the cities (plus, I never said that all academies were lost, just the 4 major ones). They stayed, and are more than a match for the small time Grimm, while his Generals can handle pretty much anything those monsters could throw at them. A few Bala's here, a Cero there, and *Boom*, no more Grimm (they don't have a great defense except for their armor, which doesn't cover everything and can just be blown off with a simple Bala). That's not even taking into account the Menos Grande, who would be completely invisible to all but the more spiritually aware. Also, how would the grandparents be able to verify James' orders? FNKI is dead, with the leader literally shouting that it was under James' and Ozpin's orders. Oz is in Menagerie, while James is at Atlas. No one besides the latter even knows what the order was (well, alive at least). There would be no way for them to verify what is true or not because 1. James never told his orders to anyone besides that one team, and 2. Why would they believe anything either of those two would say anyway if they were captured? Lastly, the Arcs don't have the power by themselves to take over the world. A few places sure (they are the descendants to Salem and Ozma in this, and thus have the potential to do magic), but not the whole world...Maybe. They needed the clone army for that, an army that I've hinted they didn't know existed at all. What the Arcs do have are agents close enough to many of the Headmasters that if they wanted to, they could kill off fairly easily. Does that mean they automatically rule the world? No. There would be mass riots going off everywhere. A vast army that appeared out of literally nowhere and decimated the 4 major academies just buys the Arcs time. If they use it wisely, then alright. If not, then there would be revolts. However, we also need to remember that Remnant isn't really all that populated to begin with. It's not Earth, the Humans and Faunus here have very few major cities outside the 4 capitals, thanks to the Grimm. Take over those cities, and you basically rule the entire planet anyway. Argus is credited in RWBY as one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant. Which to me, means that the population of Remnant is not all that large (have you seen a map of that city, it's tiny!). Sure, many people would be found in villages, towns, etc.; but with the Grimm still out there, they would be in a constant up-and-down flow in numbers, and they would conform to anything in exchange for protection now that many of the Huntsmen are dead and the rest are on the run. Hope that answers your questions :)

Devourer of fanfiction: Oh yeah, the Mandolorians are some of the most badass warriors in the galaxy! I also noticed when I was in the middle of typing the previous chapter that the parallels between the two were remarkably similar (what with the two coming from rich warrior pasts, and how deception turned them both against the ruling governments). So I thought "Why not go full boar?" and really cranked that part up to 11.

TheGreatSeeker: Thank you! You know, you're the first to actually comment on my prophecy. Glad to know that it wasn't a waste.

Colossus Bridger: He's with the villains. When I wrote 'villains', it was just implied that Joker was included. Sorry if I didn't give him screen time specifically, but I couldn't really think of a scene where he would react differently than the others (except for James' death, but I already have that in the works for when he has to leave).

duskrider: Glad you thought so, I had a tough time getting this together to make it more organic.

WearyCurmudgeon: First of all, I applaud you good sir/madam. You got much of my prophecy correct! I won't say which ones were right though ;) As for the corrections: once more I'm surprised that I got away with so few mistakes. I don't have someone to spellcheck for me, so when I go and review my work, it's actually rather difficult to spot certain grammatical errors like those :P Gotta be honest, completely forgot about old Voldy. The guy is turned to dust how many times and he still comes back for more. Hmm, now what you put down regarding Pyrrha, that actually raises a great point, one that I completely forgot about. The girl is from the same Kingdom as the leaders of Jaune's Clan, his grandparents. Oh well, can't change the past :( Although, I'm glad that you got how the people would naturally react to this. While Order 66 may have been a bit extreme, most people tend to forget that a government has contingencies for a lot of scenarios. EX. US's War Plan Red: The US planned on how to win a war against Britain, even had a few politicians actively wanting to implement it after WW1 despite being allies not too long ago. People in power have a duty to safeguard the people they represent, and a people who's been around for longer than the 4 Kingdoms themselves?... Yeah, contingencies are a must to survive. Thank you for understanding.

Dextix: Oh... I actually didn't know that. I just figured that with the first line of the code, that it pointed to a more evil alignment. My bad! :)

warrior of six blades: I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I was really worried that you wouldn't the part with the letters, so I spent quite a bit of time making sure that it was as perfect as I could make it. Like all prophecies, people can misinterpret what is written. With the way I worded it, I made it so that either action is a possibility. As for the wife bit... Hehe, no spoilers ;)

Guest: I did not know that. My friends and family always thought Vader alluded to Invader, like how Sidious was Insidious, Traya was Betrayal, and Tyranus was Tyranny. Just another Sith name that alluded to something more sinister in real life. With no one I knew correcting this meaning over the years, Invader was simply what his name meant to me growing up.

primus101: Thank you for the praise! I'm happy you managed to piece together part of the prophecy.

Oh man, these replies are starting to get rather wordy. Now without further ado, on with the show!

Disclaimer in the prologue.

*Snort* Mercury starts to laugh, earning some ire from Saphron and her wife, though she too was a bit hesitant in trusting this so-called prophecy.

"You're kidding me right?" Mercury smirks at the woman, "There's no way that bullshit is real. Those four were probably high off their ass when telling their kids that." While not willing to agree with his rather crude remarks, many felt like this prophecy was a bit out there.

Saphron glared at him, ready to deliver swift justice on the man who is besmirching her family, and the honor of the Sacred Pillars.

Oma glared at the rude boy, almost tempted to tell Saphron to teach this child a lesson.

Jack stepped in before anyone was killed or maimed, "Oh the prophecy's real alright."

Everyone looked at him like he grew a second head. "Are you serious?" Weiss asked with skepticism clear in her voice as she crossed her arms.

Jack nodded, "Oh yeah. The Sacred Pillars were blessed with exceptional Foresight when they, 'released their inner burdens'." He shrugged, briefly glancing to Salem's kids. "They had guided their offspring over the next few centuries; even teaching some later on, on how to join them. They gave their offspring the prophecy in the form of a tablet so that they would never forget its words."

Saphron meanwhile, smiled as she said "That's true. Even as my ancestors grew in number, the Sacred Pillars never abandoned us." She grinned as she started to tear up. "They have always guided our bloodline, giving us hints to better ourselves. Then one day, a stone slab with odd markings materialized inside of our first compound." She shook her head. "At first, my ancestors didn't know what they were looking at, the symbols were completely unknown to them. Then, as if a veil was lifted from them, they could suddenly read the inscriptions."

Jack nodded, agreeing with her story. "They did this in the hopes that their legacy would survive the coming darkness."

The audience looks at each other in worry. Ozpin asks Jack, "What darkness?" But Jack shakes his head as he refuses to tell them.

Everyone was blown away, and as the screen moved to show the next scene, many were contemplating what the Arc prophecy entailed. And a few people did not like how it was worded.

The screen opens up to a place that to most of the audience, could only be described as a barren wastland. With large rocky outcrops everywhere, and giant purple crystals sprouting out of the ground, lighting up the land in a soft purple glow. To the audience, it looked like several meteors had struck the area rather heavily. As the screen moves to a specific location, they could see that the sky was dark red, with the shattered moon giving some light, the whole land felt like a lost and dead field.

This Land of Darkness had something else, something that before was secret to only those who knew this land. Grimm. The heroes could see multiple Grimm walking the land, as well as pools of viscous, tar-like sludge where more of the unholy beasts were spawning in large numbers.

The heroes took one look at this place, and realized that wherever this place was, it was the root source of all Grimm. Their nesting grounds.

The students were horrified, clinging to each other in support. The parents were holding their children as they whispered words of encouragement. The teachers felt sick just looking at this place. Ozpin felt a wave of memories coming back, seeing this place after so long.

Sienna shivered, while Ilia was hugging her Chibi-Blake who had popped up out of her box after the killings were over. The mini cat girl was shaking badly as she held onto her mistress in fear.

Gretchen was holding Hazel's arm as she shivered, with the man trying to calm her down.

Raven and Vernal looked on in shock, both holding onto Amber as she started to whimper a bit.

The villains were a bit mixed. Those who knew about the place didn't feel anything since this was their home.

Those who didn't were horrified. Neo hugged her baby close as they both closed their eyes. Roman desperately wished to smoke so that he would calm down. Even the Joker gulped as he witnessed this carnival of horrors.

Emerald, while seeing this place already, also held onto her twins as they hugged her for protection.

The only ones that were actually ticked off were Salem and Cinder. The two didn't like how their lair was being shown, as well as the source of the Grimm. And as the view was zooming in on a dark castle, the feeling only grew.

Evernight Castle, the seat of power for the Queen of the Grimm: Salem.

The scene switches over to a large conference room, a long table with a small holoprojector in the middle, and odd-looking chairs placed around the table. It is here where the key members of Salem's circle are arguing over what has been happening over the previous night.

"What has been happening?! What have our spies gathered?!" Cinder shouts as her faction stand behind her, wondering what the hell has been going on recently with this new potential enemy.

"We don't know, child!" Watts wasn't going to let this mere whelp order him around, and glared at her as he shouted back. All the while seething that their spies couldn't dig up anything regarding this new phenomenon.

Adam stewed in a corner behind Cinder, keeping his most loyal commanders in check while several White Fang grunts were trying hard not to kill the humans that surrounded them.

Seeing Adam there had Sienna and Ilia gaping in shock. Not only that, but he had the nerve to allow members of the White Fang into that desolate wasteland. 'Is he in leagues with that woman?' The two thought as they glanced at Salem.

Blake was shivering, knowing the amount of loyal supporters her ex had, and was scared of Salem gaining those followers.

Hazel sighed, crossing his arms as he looked behind him and seeing many of the Huntsmen that were loyal to Salem's cause here as he ordered.

The heroes were shocked that so many Huntsmen were loyal to their enemy.

Cinder and Salem were getting even more pissed, seeing the their followers displayed so openly in front of their enemies. They knew that once this whole thing was over, they would soon be short of a few minions.

Just then, the main doors opened and Salem entered the room.

Everyone stopped their arguing, and rose up to bow at the waist towards their leader. Their Queen calmly walked past her servants, and went to sit at the throne at the other side of the table.

Once she sat down, she motioned for her faction to do so as well. "Now that we are all here, could someone explain to me what has been happening in the Kingdoms recently?" While it sounded like a simple question, her narrowed eyes told them that it was an order.

Cinder first spoke. "Mistress," earning her attention, "while I do not know what has gone on in Vale after we had to flee from Beacon, what I can say is that an army of strange beings were marching towards the school from some sort of black portal."

Watts interrupted, "Yes, before Atlas had gone silent, there were reports of a black maw opening over the city." He glanced at Cinder, who was glaring at him for the interruption, before looking back. "It was also reported that General Ironwood had been shot down, shortly before the portal opened in fact. At the moment, I can only presume that he is dead." That brought a few murmurs from the soldiers behind them.

Cinder did the same as her other, glaring at the mustached man.

The heroes though, flinched at the reminder of James' death.

Salem hummed, then turned to hazel. "And what have you to report, Hazel?"

The man looked at her with crossed arms. "Well, there were reports that Leonardo was killed over the savanna surrounding Haven, along with another portal opening shortly thereafter." He stopped to sigh, "Based on the trend that has been going on, it would seem that the Headmasters, along with all the 4 major academies, have been attacked simultaneously."

Now everyone was looking at each other nervously. Salem though was intrigued, wondering how this mysterious army alluded her for so long. 'Why have you emerged now? What are your goals?'

Salem leans forward, "Have you contacted all of our spies Hazel?"

The man nods, "Yes, and I had ordered all Huntsmen loyal to you to arrive here as quickly as they could. I didn't want to risk their safety in case the leader of these new soldiers shifted their attention away from the schools and towards the other Huntsmen. The others are on standby and awaiting further orders." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a scroll similar to the one Cinder lost. "I ordered them to lie low for the moment, and to report to me in case any new information comes up." He placed the scroll back. (1)

The heroes looked at each other in fear, if the people gathered here were not everyone Salem had control over, how many more were out there? As they see the faces of so many Huntsmen, they all speculated who else was a spy for her.

Salem nods, pleased with his forward thinking. "Excellent work." The man bows his head. "Now then-"

Just then a low beeping interrupted her, coming from the holoprojector.

Everyone looked confused by this. Tyrian says, "Allow me, my Goddess." Salem raises a hand, and the mad Faunus pressed a few buttons to accept the call.

As he finished, the projector came to life, and a hologram of Jacob Arc popped up.

The heroes now paled, shaking as they see one of the Arc leaders there, most likely to swear their loyalty to her cause.

Salem and her faction were interested how this would play out, having reached the same conclusion as their enemies.

Salem narrowed her eyes, not recognizing this disfigured old man hiding under a cloak. The grunts shift nervously, as several of her inner circle scowled at him.

"What is this? Who are you?" Salem demanded.

The old man smiles, "Greetings, All-Mother."

The woman raises an eyebrow, 'That's a new one.'

The man continues, "My name is Sidious, Elder to the Arc Clan." The soldiers recognized the name of the Clan, those from Atlas shivering at the name Arc, wondering how the man got ahold of Salem.

Salem rose a brow at her grunts' behavior, and made a mental note to have them explain themselves later. "Well then, Mr. Sidious," she smirked a bit at the ridiculous name, "how is it that you came about contacting me?" Her smirk vanished, "And what is it that you want?"

The man, smile still in place, said "I simply wish to have a chat. As for how..." The man holds up a scroll, "One of my agents found this in the wreckage of Beacon."

Many turned to a pale Cinder with piercing stares.

Salem gave Cinder a disapproving look, making her blush as she refused to meet her gaze.

The man coughed to get their attention once more. "Now then, I'm sure that your own agents have notified you that the main Huntsmen Academies have all been attacked." Seeing Salem's nod he continued, "I'm also sure that you don't know the ones who unleashed this new army against them. Allow me to shed some light. That army, is ours."

The Huntsmen who knew of the Arcs' reputation paled, a few began to even whimper in fear.

Many of the audience nodded, feeling their reactions to this news were about right.

Salem was now even more curious, "And why have you decided to betray the Huntsmen?"

At that, Sidious scowled, "We were betrayed first, by Ozpin and his ilk."

She narrowed her eyes at that name, while Hazel glared at the floor.

Gretchen held her twin close, understanding that her brother was being emotionally used by that woman.

Meanwhile, many of the adults flinched at the declaration. Ozpin wondered if the truth would ever reach them, but felt that by now it was most likely too late.

"I see..." Salem said, looking at the old man, wondering if the disfigurement was because of Ozpin as well. "However, that still leaves the question of what it is you wish to discuss with me."

The man's smile returns as he raised a hand towards her, "I wished to offer terms for an alliance between us."(2)

Many widened their eyes at this. The older Huntsmen and Faunus grinned though, feeling that with the might of the Arcs, they would not fail.

The heroes felt fear gripping their hearts tight as they heard that.

Meanwhile, the villains were cheering at this victory.

Some, like Raven and Salem, felt that this course of action was inevitable.

Salem watches Sidious closely, trying to see if this was in any way a trap. However, she was distracted by the Huntsmen and White Fang whispering to each other in excitement, as well as Watts grinning like had he just won the lottery. 'Curious.'

She raised her right hand, and everyone immediately silenced themselves. "Very well. Perhaps we should have a meeting face-to-face to address any terms you may have before you join?" She did this both as a way to see if this man was serious in his intentions, and if he agrees to make sure that if this Elder was a possible threat to eliminate him as quickly as possible.

'And it's not as if I am going to be in that meeting personally.' She also resolved to ask her soldiers just what the significance of this one clan was.

The Grimm Queen nodded at her other's plan, while the more tactical heroes frowned in worry as they quickly figured out her plans.

Sidious nodded, "Very well, All-Mother. My fellow Elders know of your location thanks to the archives taken from Ozpin's computer," Salem rose an eyebrow at that, "and we have already dispatched someone to you to discuss our terms."

He stops to raise both hands in a form of appeasement once whispers of suspicion were being brought up, "Have no fear, the transport is only large enough for a single person, and as a sign of good faith, it isn't even armed. However," he looks around to everyone else with a glare, "He also happens to be my eldest grandson, and next in line in the Elder's Council." He looks back to Salem, "I would appreciate it if you give your word that Lord Vader is not to be harassed in any way while he is on route."

At the mention of his title, many felt remorse. 'He's being used as a bargaining chip, a sacrifice for if things go wrong.' The students didn't want their friend/crush to go anywhere near this place.

The Grimm Queen frowned, but felt that a single person wouldn't be much of a threat. And with him arriving via ship, they would at least have more time to prepare for the rest of her minions to arrive. She weighed the pros and cons for several minutes, but in the end she nodded, "Very well. As a sign of good will between us, he will not be harmed."

Sidious smiles, bows his head to her, and the hologram disappears.

The villains grinned, feeling their ultimate victory within reach.

Meanwhile, the heroes felt that they had failed to stop the coming darkness.

The screen then switches over to shows a small transport hovering over to one of Vale's landing pads in order to land. Then it switches to a hallway where one of the many elevator doors open, and Anon steps out along with two brown robed figures with their hoods up. Although their features were obscured by the robes, the audience figured out that it was Winter and Ozpin.

One of the guards nervously heads over to them, "G-Greetings. May I see your clearance please?" He glances to a pair of the weird helmeted soldiers looking at one of the transports. (3)

The heroes gulped, hoping that they would make it through security.

Meanwhile, Salem and Cinder were greatly amused that Ozpin had to disguise himself in order to sneak inside his own city.

Anon nods and hands him a sheet of paper, "Certainly." He says with a disarming smile.

The guard looks over it, and sees that it's legit. He then hands it back to the Faunus, "Thank you, you may proceed. Have a nice day."

As they move on, Winter sighs in relief. "That was close. For a moment, I thought we would be caught." She looks at the weird soldiers in confusion.

Ozpin shakes his head, also noticing the new security. "This was merely the first step." He glances at his old friend, "Thank you again for the cloaks."

Anon grins, "No problem, I actually think it looks quite good on you."

No one noticed one of the new guards eyeing the group behind his helmet.

As they walk, they come across a fork. Anon heads to the left, to try to see what the news has to say about all this, while Ozpin and Winter head to the right towards Beacon.

Back to Evernight Castle, a small shuttle was seen approaching its airspace.

The audience knew just who's ship that was, and many prayed that he would live through this.

It didn't take too long for the ship to fly over the many pools of Grimm, heading towards the only landing platform which is attached to the castle and hovers over another large pool, where several bullheads and transports are parked. Seeing a spot to land closest to the door, the ship hovers over the spot and begins to land.

It takes a bit, but it eventually settles on the ground. The engines then turns off and the cockpit opens.

Jaune is then seen dropping from the cockpit with a grimace as he breathes heavily. 'Ugh, how I hate flying. Thank the Pillars that grandma gave me some medicine beforehand, and grandpa for the autopilot.'

The villains were confused, not knowing about Jaune's little problem with flying on a ship.

The students smiled sadly, seeing that at least somethings hadn't changed.

After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he straightens his posture and puts on his hood. He then begins walking across the walkway, looking back at the amount of ships on the platform. He sighed at the sight, noticing that quite a few were fairly large.

As he heads towards the door, he hides his hands under his long sleeves as he places them together, giving him the appearance of a praying monk. Unbeknownst to the audience, in one of his hands, he's gripping a sort of small cube with a tiny antenna on top. As the doors open, and some White Fang grunts are seen standing at either end to greet him, he presses one of the buttons.

The students gulp, feeling that this was it.

Sienna and Ilia glared at the White Fang members being there. 'We are meant to fight for equality, not make deals with the devil!' The two thought.

The screen then switches over to a large room, with a few large screens displaying news agencies. Several Huntsmen and White Fang are working at the consoles nearby or standing guard by the doors. Salem and her inner circle are there, with Emerald and Mercury trying to make themselves useful. (4)

The audience can see that some of the news agencies are depicting the ruined state of some of the schools, while others are showing the new soldiers battling large armies of Grimm with their lethal swordsmanship. Many of the soldiers are even seen shooting some weird red balls that when fired immediately disintegrated any Grimm it hit. (5)

The villains wanted those troops so badly, and were grinning at the thought that soon they will.

As for the heroes, while they were happy that the Grimm were being taken care of, they were also afraid of what else these soldiers were capable of.

Just then, Jaune is seen walking slowly to the doorway of the room.

Salem was the first to greet her new guest, and possible pawn, with a disarming smile. "Welcome, Lord Vader. We have been expecting you."

Everyone in the room stops to look at him as he closes his eyes and breathes deeply. To the audience, it looked like he was regretting coming here. As he opens his eyes, all the exits start to close. Salem smiled triumphantly, knowing now just what made these Arcs so special, and was happy that she had such powerful warriors to call upon.

The screen moved to behind the young man, just as the main exit slowly slams shut in front behind him.

Ozpin felt that with the doors shut, Jaune's fate was sealed.

His friends and students all felt the same, and lowered their heads briefly at the loss.

The scene quickly shifts over to the smoldering shell of Beacon, a large trail of smoke filling the air with a black haze, and holes of various sizes pocketing the walls in several locations.

The sight of the school looking so destroyed and abandoned made many who once/still called it home feel their hearts ache. Even the letters from warrior of six blades had only a limited effect on their recipients. Their home, where they had so many cherished memories, broken and turned to dust and mortar.

A dozen of the new soldiers are standing guard at different locations near the entrance of the school, as they were ordered to by their Lord. Suddenly there was a flash of movement, and one of the soldiers had his neck snapped. Another flew back as he felt his hierro take a hit, and slammed into another soldier. As they fell to the ground, the others were already on the move.

Taking out their blades, they turned to see the two cloaked figures rapidly approaching them. "Huntsmen!" The one who was launched yelled as he stood back up and felt their energy spike.

One sprinted towards a group of three while the other went to the group of five.

As the former ran towards their now charging opponents, two blue glyphs sprung up, summoning a pair of Alpha Beowolves for assistance.

The first soldier paused in his charge, confused by the summoning. That was his first and last mistake in this fight as one of the beowolves jumped over the other two, and smashed into him. Before he could recover, the summon quickly bit down on his neck hard.

Now due to his lack of concentration, and the blow to the head from the fall causing his senses to go haywire, his Reiatsu couldn't protect him.

So when the summon bit down on his neck, the creature was expecting to have been halted by Aura. Instead, due to the power of the bite and lack of said Aura, it had taken a huge chunk out of his neck.

At seeing the deaths of the first two soldiers, the students felt around for their own necks with a gulp. At the sight of that one man's ruined throat, Ruby and a few others threw up.

The little droid, having had nothing to do by this point, beeped excitedly at finally being able to work after being idle for so long.

Winter, as her hood had fallen off and her identity revealed, didn't pause and flew towards another opponent with her sword in front of her. Her eyes on the trooper who destroyed the beowolf that killed the first soldier.

The man quickly turned and parried her blade to the side. He then went to thrust his own at her, but felt the resistance that all Huntsmen deployed. He scowled at the annoying barriers these humans had.

After disposing the other summon, his comrade buzzed behind her and prepared his own strike, only to have somthing impacting his chest, breaking his ribcage and sending him flying backwards.

Taking advantage of her opponent's surprise, she got out her small dagger and swiped it across his neck.

He ignored the swipe as it did nothing but create sparks. Instead, he kicked her away and turned around to see that Ozpin had already dispatched the others.

Just then, the other three buzzed into existance, already brandishing their weapons and prepared to kill the intruders.

Despite the ease in which the previous group had fallen, the villains were impressed by their ability.

They, along with the adults, noticed that their Aura wasn't so effective against blunt trauma. They felt that this was a weakness against them, but also conceded that not many were proficient enough in hand-to-hand to be effective against them, and wondered if they could be beaten. Clearly not by students, but perhaps full-fledged Huntsmen. (6)

The scene then switches over to a large coliseum suspended off the ground over Vale. The audience immediately recognized it as Amity Colosseum. The view zooms to inside the coliseum, where many people were finding their seats. Reporters, simple spectators, Council members from other the Kingdoms; all who had come to see the tournament were here, wishing to know what had been going on recently.

Many were nervously looking at the weird soldiers standing guard near the exits and railings.

Just behind the red seats of the VIP's was Lisa Lavender. Looking around, she noticed that many of the people were significantly older. The youngest being in their mid-forties.

Many were confused by the older members of the audience and wondered why this was.

Before she could ponder a reason, the central platform of the arena suddenly lowered from its previous position, and the screens started powering up. Seeing this, everyone went silent as the reporters went live.

The platform soon rose back up. There, the people saw 10 more soldiers near its edges, along with two female teenagers standing at attention near the middle, apparently leading this new squad.

One had long, black hair done in two pigtails reaching down her back, a slender build, and pink eyes. Her uniform consists of a short frilly skirt, white half-sleeves worn from the elbows down to the wrists, thigh-length black-colored, white-outlined boots, and a weird-looking white-colored, black-outlined shirt that reveals a fair portion of her stomach as well as her chest. For accessories, she's wearing white bracelets on her arms.

The other had a more tomboyish look. She had short, slicked blonde hair with a slight fringe over her right eye, both of which were green. Her clothing is a white dress with short sleeves, which are slit and run slightly past her elbows, and an upturned collar. It's also unzipped at the front revealing her cleavage. Her dress also exposes her waist and part of her thighs on both sides of her body. A black sash is worn loosely around her hips. Lastly, she wears black tabi socks and low-heel sandals, and a white, segmented choker with a series of white bracelets on her arms. (7)

Standing in the middle, in front of some self-reliant cameras, were Jacob and Jeanne Arc, still in their hoods.

The sight of these new faces had many of the heroes worried about their abilities.

'Considering that they are directly guarding his grandparents, Jaune must truly believe in their ability to keep them safe.' Ren thought. He, like many, was worried about them being so close to all those innocent people.

Many of the women with crushes were glaring at the new girls, wondering just where Jaune keeps finding these hussies. Though they did see that the new additions weren't as 'gifted' as the previous two, so they calmed down a bit.

The podium rises above the arena and the screens above opens up with the two, televising this to everyone in the Kingdoms.

Jacob was the first to step forward, and says, "Ladies, Gentlemen, Human and Faunus alike. I know that this has been a troubling time recently." He pauses to collect himself. "I know that many of you are afraid of what has been happening, of what it might mean for the future. My name is Jacob Arc, Councilman of the Kingdom of Mistral," he looks to the cameras, "and I am here to announce that we have all been betrayed by those we trusted with our safety."

After he said this, the people in the bleachers began murmuring to each other. Many of the audience went wide eyed at the name, quickly recognizing the name, and telling its significance to their friends and younger neighbors. As the people were going wild with inquires, Jeanne steps forwards to calm the people down.

The view then switches back to Ozpin and Winter walking past the many dead students and soldiers in one of Beacon's halls.

While they were glad that the two survived their fight, the students were all horrified by the bodies. So many of their friends, gone. Many held each other as they couldn't look anymore, knowing that it was unlikely that any survived, including them.

The adults could only watch in sorrow, seeing the world's future protectors, mere teenagers, slaughtered like this.

The parents held their children tight as they tried to shield them from the heart wrenching image.

Glynda had a hand over her mouth as she silently cried. 'They were but children,' she thought. Looking at all the bodies of young boys and girls in sorrow, she cried softly. She believed that if she was there, she may have saved some of them.

The villains were basking in their enemies' misery, though Emerald also shielded her daughters' eyes.

The two looked around in sorrow. They walked around, seeing that many were still in their sleeping clothes. Though they also saw that even as unprepared as they were, the students still managed to form a defense, taking down as many as they could before falling.

Ozpin couldn't believe it, "How could this have happened?" he whispered, seeing so many students, the ones he vowed to protect until they were ready to face the world, dead and gone.

Winter thought the same, seeing the dead all around and hoping that her sister made it out.

The view switches to the coliseum, where Anon had just arrived. He had spent much of his time asking around for information, and was told by many that he may find it in the Coliseum.

Going in, he saw that the announcement had already started, with the screens above just finished showing a recording of a team from Atlas barging into a hotel room.

Confused at this, he went to find an empty seat, and finding one next to Lisa.

Mercury looked at Jack, "What was that?" pointing towards the screens.

Jack looked back and said, "Jacob and Jeanne were finishing presenting their evidence against James' actions, as well as some other pieces of information that is extremely against most of the other Headmasters."

"Like what?" Sienna asked, saddened at seeing so many innocent losses, especially the Faunus ones.

He held up his hand and counted up, "Recordings of Jaune being followed by FNKI in and around the hotel, reports of the crime scene as recorded by the police, eyewitness accounts of people near the scene, Cinder's scroll that has a direct line to Lionheart and other various Huntsmen that she really shouldn't have," many of Salem's faction turned a stick eye towards a mildly sweating Cinder, "the assassination attempt by Atlas against two members of Mistral's leadership Council with hospital records and accounts to back it up," James and Winter went pale, knowing that the team didn't have a warrant for that arrest, "the reasons for coming to Vale in the first place, and some very sensitive data taken from Leonardo and Ozma's computers." Ozpin and his faction paled, wondering just what it was the two showed to the public (8).

Jacob finished his explanation to a stunned and horrified audience, "...but I am happy to announce that the Huntsmen Rebellion has been foiled."

Anon looked around, seeing many happily applaud at this. He felt sick, knowing that all this was a lie. He looked to Lisa, and recognizing her asked, "I'm a bit lost. What's going on Ms. Lavender?"

Lisa, looking as horrified as many in the bleachers, turned to him and said, "The Arcs have been elaborating on a plot by the Headmasters, to assassinate members of Mistral's Council, and..." she paused to take a deep shaky breath, "and the Huntsmen's betrayal of us all."

The Huntsmen felt a pain in their chest, betray the people of Remnant? Never!

Many wondered how Jacob managed to convince these people of that, though a few felt that they may have a clue as to how.

Anon looked shocked, shaking his head as he said "That can't be true!"

Lisa shook her head. "Jacob Arc has been presenting evidence all afternoon."

Anon recognized the name, and looked around again in slight panic, "But how? Why would the Huntsmen betray us?"

Lisa placed her hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. "Why else?" She scowled, turning back to the Arcs with a fire in her eyes. "For power."

The heroes reeled back as if struck, seeing how so easily swayed the people were against their protectors.

Salem and Cinder silently clapped, seeing the brilliant stroke of the Arcs play out. 'And with their new armies at our command, nothing will stand in our way.'

Jacob yelled at the top of his lungs, "The remaining Huntsmen will be hunted down and defeated!" He paused as the applause grew wild this time. In a softer voice, with regret filling his words, he says "Any who chooses to collaborate with these rouges will be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

Once more, the people applauded this.

(Play "Anakin's Dark Deeds")

It switches over to Ozpin and Winter making their way through the school, hiding from any soldiers that may have remained as they moved to the communications tower.

As they entered one of the classrooms closest to the tower, they come across the bodies of some more students. Some very familiar students.

Winter whimpered, desperately wishing that her eyes were deceiving her.

There, lying scattered on the ground, was team RWBY, along with Professors Port and Oobleck.

Tai and Summer cried as they held their daughters close, wishing that this nightmare would just end already.

Winter hugged her baby sister close as she couldn't contain her feelings anymore. 'Weiss, I'm so sorry. I wasn't there when you needed it most.' She started rocking back and forth with her sister as she watched the screen in despair.

Raven felt her heart ache at seeing her baby lying dead on the ground. She whispered, "No. Get up Yang, please get up." A single tear fell from her eye.

Blake looked horrified at seeing her team, her family, all dead. "No" she whimpered. NPR went and embraced her in a hug, wanting to show her that it would be alright, even though it wasn't.

Ozpin and Glynda cried as they saw their friends' dead bodies lying on the ground next to some of their students. 'No doubt trying to rescue at least a few of them from this slaughter.'

Qrow lowered his head, offering a prayer to his friends, before going to join in the family hug.

James bowed his head, feeling the weight of the world crushing down on him. 'This is the Arc's fault...' he shook his head and looked back to the screen, to the dead. 'But... It's also mine as well.'

Salem and Cinder grinned at seeing more of their enemies dead, the latter recording the reactions for later prosperity.

Winter looked at the unmoving body of her dear Weiss. "Not even my sister and her team survived." She said with much pain in her tone.

She then fell to her knees, reaching out to gently stroke her sister's head, and noticing that her eyes were still open. With a quiet sob, she raised a shaking hand and gently closed her eyes for the last time. She then went to kiss her forehead, whispering "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

Struggling to get back up, she noticed that her sister's team was arrayed in a way that suggested that they fought as one. "At least, her team was with her at the end." She said, wiping her tears before getting up and moving the bodies so that the girls lying next to each other, their features peaceful now.

Ruby sniffled, saying "Thank you, Weiss's sister." The other girls nodded, silently thanking her for what she did.

Ozpin meanwhile did the same for his friends. 'I'm sorry my friends.' He looks to their faces, then to Winter who was silently praying. *Sigh* "Just one more mistake in a long line of mistakes." He whispers, thinking 'I'm sorry Kali, Ghira. I'm so, so sorry' with a heavy heart.

Just as the two were about to move on, he noticed something. Stepping closer to one of their weapons, he saw that they were partially melted. "They weren't killed by soldiers..." He says softly, earning Winter's and the audience's attention. "Winter, look here." He picks up the melted remains of Gambol Shroud, and hands it over to her. "Those soldiers, they hadn't wielded weapons capable of doing this."

That news caused the heroes to think. He was right, the soldiers only used regular katanas in battle, and the techniques they used were more for explosions rather than cutting things.

When they thought back to who could have such a weapon, everyone paled. They knew of one person, and that knowledge brought even more pain to them.

Cinder chuckled, "Hehehe, well, well. It would seem that Mr. Arc is just full of delicious surprises." She grinned at the horrified heroes, "He not only killed his own team, he even killed his sister team as well." Many flinched, not wanting to believe what she was saying. But the proof was there, all the soldiers used regular blades, Jaune was the only one who used a different weapon. The more they descended into despair from these thoughts, the more she enjoyed watching this future.

Winter looked to Ozpin, "...Who? Who could have done this?"

The villains celebrated, almost tasting their victory close at hand.

However, what came next brought a new wave of shock and fear throughout the audience.

Jaune had moved quickly, newly ignited sword in hand, and instantly stabbed the closest person he could reach, that being Mercury, as the others panicked. The Huntsmen and White Fang by the exits and at the controls tried to ready their weapons, but by then it was already too late. The guards were being cut down in a flash as he fazed in and out of existence. One Huntress tried to aim her weapon at Jaune, only for him to faze out of her line of sight, and reappearing behind her. He didn't stop and moved forward, the woman's head suddenly sliding off her neck. The oldest of the Huntsmen and White Fang began banging on the doors to try to escape the Arc, Neo and Roman hiding under a table.

Jaune, stone-faced, moves through the room like a specter of death. Bodies were dropping everywhere he went. Screams by Watts were cut short as he died with a stab through the chest.

Jaune pulled the sword out of him, and moved on to slice Hazel in his stomach and cut off Tyrian's head, as some of the others ran into the conference room.

The screen moves back to the coliseum.

"B-But! We were supposed to be allies!" Cinder shouts as she shivers a bit in fear, watching as Jaune slew so many of her comrades without mercy or hesitation.

Salem was wide-eyed, seeing this with a horrified expression. 'What is happening?!' Her plans were falling apart in front of her! She holds her daughters close as she tries to shield their eyes, much to their slight annoyance.

The villains were shivering in fear, the ones who saw their others die each flinched as though they were the ones killed.

The mothers of Jaune's children held their babies close so to shield them from watching their mommies potentially die in front of them.

Eve looked on in rage, believing that the boy had betrayed them. Meanwhile, Sienna and Ilia were gulping in fear, seeing one person slaughtering so many professional warriors with his blade.

The heroes, though happy that Jaune wasn't joining Salem's side like they thought/dreaded, still felt terrified seeing him mow down so many experienced an dangerous fighters in such a short period of time.

Jacob removed his hood, showing his slightly disfigured face to a saddened and horrified people of Remnant. "The attempt on my life has left me scarred, and deformed. But I assure you, my resolve, has never been stronger!"

The people applauded, seeing his strength shine through despite his injuries.

Back in Evernight, at the landing platforms, the audience could see that many of the survivors were trying to escape. The oldest of the surviving Huntsmen and White Fang knew about the deadly reputation of the Arcs, and so chose to flee from this one's wrath. Just as the two closest to the main doors were ready for liftoff, Jaune's ship suddenly exploded, destroying the transports, and killing many within the blast radius. This had the added effect of also destroying the only support columns that allowed the platform to safely suspend above the Grimm pool. The shattering of this support caused the platform to violently split apart from the rest of the castle, killing more people from the ensuing shrapnel, and the whole thing soon fell into the pool below, killing what was left and ensuring that there would be no escape.

Salem glared at the cowards that chose to flee instead of fighting this threat to them, and nodded when they all died from the explosion or from falling into the Grimm pool.

The others felt despair at seeing their only means of escape sinking into the deadly sludge.

Inside, Roman held a hand out to Jaune as he looks at him. "Stop, please no!" But it was no use, the boy quickly fazed in front of him and sliced his chest open with his blade before moving on to kill a shaking Neo.

The two held each other in fear while also trying to calm down Lucy. The other daughters shivered at seeing their auntie Neo die like that.

Jaune walked to the entrance of the main conference room, before stopping. Adam had gotten behind him and was poised to cut his head off. In response, Jaune turned off Seele Schneider and rearranged it. As he got close enough, Jaune reignited the blade, landing a direct hit at his heart.

Those who knew Adam were stunned. To see the powerful warrior dispatched so quickly was a shock to them.

Eve held a hand to her own chest as she jaw dropped. 'Impossible! How could I have lost to a human so quickly?!'

Blake was shivering. She knew how dangerous Adam was in combat, and would never want to face him one-on-one. 'But if he was struck down so easily, how strong is Jaune?'

Not looking back, Jaune removed the blade and continued on, to everyone he looked unstoppable. Inside the conference room, the audience could see a heavily injured Salem and Cinder waiting for him at the other end. Jaune stops by the entrance and turns his head to survey the observation room to make sure no more 'surprises' would come. The screen gets a closeup of his facial features. His face in a dark glare, his eyes a bright yellow in pools of black.

Seeing Salem and Cinder as injured as they were, the two were shivering more. The others who knew of their power and danger felt a deep primal fear building up. No one really knew how his eyes changed like that, but they would all agree, they would haunt their nightmares.

Going back to the coliseum, Jacob continues with his speech. "In order to ensure that our security and stability continues in these dark times. The Four Kingdoms, in acceptance with the Councils' wishes, will be reorganized into the First Arcadian Empire (9), for a safe and secure society!" He raised his hand up towards the people to illustrate how he's asking them to join him in this new government.

There is a loud, sustained cheer from the people, several shouting "Long live the Empire!" Even Lisa shouted this out. Meanwhile, Anon just sat there, dumbfounded.

Jacob continued, "An empire that will continue to be ruled by the Councils as the main Judicial branch, with a sovereign ruler chosen for life; by my honor as an Arc, I promise you, that we will make it through this betrayal!"

The people cheers again, hearing his promise made them go wild.

The adults were horrified. In one stroke, Jacob had basically dismantled the Four Kingdoms while placing the Arcs on top.

Anon are devastated. Though Lisa began to cry in joy as she stood up in applause.

Jacob finished his speech, "An empire ruled by the people, for the betterment of the people!"

The crowd goes wild, many standing up to chant "All hail the Emperor!"

Anon looks around, seeing the people giving the Arcs a standing ovation. He whispers to himself "So, this is how the Kingdoms die," he sees the adoring fans with sadness, "with thunderous applause." (10)

The audience were now seeing the true plan of the Arcs. The destruction of the Academies, the damning of all Huntsmen, the slaughter of Salem's forces. It was all so that this Arcadian Empire would rise.

Salem and Cinder, though still feeling fear, couldn't help but appreciate the Arcs' planning. Salem herself felt great pride inside.

Back to Evernight's observation room, only Emerald visibly remained as the sole survivor. Jaune then fazed in front of the terrified young woman, crossing his arms as his back was to the screen, thus only showing the girl's fearful expression. The audience could tell that based on his stance, his weapon wasn't on at the moment. That didn't stop the fear in Emerald. As he makes a move to her, she quickly backs up until she hits one of the tables behind her.

With tears falling from her eyes, she shouts, "This shadow war is over! Please, Salem promised us peace... we only meant to-"

Emerald was cut off midsentence when Jaune ignited his blade again and swiped at the air next to him. At first, the audience thought that he was either doing this to shut her up, or that he may spare her. A shimmering in the air, followed by a gasp, and it was proven that none of those were correct. Emerald in an attempt to trick Jaune, tried using her semblance on him to attack from the side. But it didn't work, his sensing abilities weren't fooled by her tricks. Her illusion fell, the fake Emerald faded out as the real one dropped to her knees with a hand grabbing her sliced neck. She then fell to the ground. All was now silent as Jaune moved on once more.

Hearing no more shouts or screams had made many of the villains terrified.

Winter stood in a large computer area as Ozpin looks on, in the hatchway to the main control center of the CCT.

After imputing a few codes, she closed the monitor, her job complete. She then turned to Ozpin with a tired expression. "I've finished recalibrated the code, warning all surviving Huntsmen to stay away from the Academies."

The heroes all sighed in relief, at least happy that any survivors wouldn't fall into this trap.

Oz nodded, leaning on his cane as he said "Good. For anyone to discover the code's recalibration, it'll take a long time for them to notice. Even longer to change it back."

The students felt that at least they had some good news.

As they turned to leave the school, Winter spots something. The security room.

She calls out to Oz, "Wait, Headmaster. There is something that I must know..." She then enters the room.

As Oz follow her, he says "The security recordings?" He hummed, "That would certainly help solve this mystery."

Winter moves to a panel and flips a few switches. The monitor lights up, showing images of the students walking, laughing, alive. She switches over to the classroom that her sister's body is. Seeing that it was the right camera, but the wrong time, she sped up the footage, until she got to the right time.

'There', she narrows her eyes at seeing Jaune Arc attacking team RWBY, Port and Oobleck already dead by their feet.

Seeing tangible proof of the cause of their deaths made the ache in their chests worse.

Ozpin was stunned, seeing one of his favorite students attacking his friends. As Weiss used her semblance to speed herself up, he noticed that he blocked and/or parried all of them. Then, when Blake moved to attack, he swung a sword with a blade of light, cutting through her weapon like a hot knife through butter. As she paused in disbelief, he took the opportunity to stab her in the chest.

Blake flinched at seeing herself get killed.

As Weiss screamed out her friend's name, he to the surprise of Oz and horror of Winter, fazed out of existence in a similar move to that of the soldiers. He then quickly reappeared behind her, stabbing her in the stomach.

"It can't be..." Oz whispers, not noticing Winter glaring at Jaune with hatred in her eyes.

Jaune then fought the remaining members of the team with a speed outmatching Ruby and with more strength than Yang. Soon, Ruby fell with a slice to her chest, and Yang with a stab through her sternum. Winter flips a switch, showing Jaune kneels before a clocked figure.

The two then hears Jaune say "The traitors have been taken care of, Elder Sidious."

Sidious nods, "Good, good. You have done well, my grandson."

Oz felt like he was punched in the gut. 'That's Jacob?! Why is he here?!'

The man then gestured Jaune to stand up, "Now, rise Lord Vader. I have a new mission for you. Go to Salem's lair. Go, and bring peace to Remnant."

Ozpin looked horrified by his friend mentioning her name. 'Is he a spy for her?' He felt dread creeping up. 'This must've her plan all along.'

Winter ignored the name, instead just looking at the two.

She shakes her head and turns off the monitor, "I can't watch any more."

The two stand in silence for a few moments.

Oz finally turns to Winter, "Now we know who is responsible for this."

She looks back, wiping away any stray tears. "Send me to kill the boy." She looks to Oz with a burning rage. "Let me avenge my sister."

However, she was disappointed and frustrated when Ozpin shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you are simply not strong enough to fight him." Before she could yell at him, and thus possibly compromise their position, he said "If you'd payed more attention to his fight with team RWBY, you'd see that he is far faster and stronger than yourself." He walks back and forth as he lectures her. "Mr. Arc from what was seen in the footage has similar abilities to the soldiers we faced, and thus is far more unpredictable when going at high speeds." He looks at her with a small glare, "You had much difficulty in facing those men with me by your side, how do you think you'll fair against someone like that alone?"

Winter wanted to protest, she truly did, but she knew that he was right. The boy was indeed faster than her when she wasn't using her semblance. And even with it, she would be far more predictable in her movements and positioning thanks to her glyphs. She wouldn't stand a chance.

As much as she felt that she should face him, Winter did have to agree. He was simply too powerful and unpredictable for her to face him in open battle.

Winter lowered her gaze in despair, "How did it come to this?"

Oz shakes his head, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There is no time to answer that." He sighed, "I will go face Mr. Arc."

She looked back up and raised an incredulous eyebrow, "We do not know where this person has sent him. You don't know where to look."

But Oz shook his head with another sigh, "Unfortunately, I believe I do." He looks to Winter, "I will face him, meanwhile you confront Jacob. You should be more than a match for him."

She nods, the two splitting up and heading towards their destinies.

"So, it's come down to this." Salem says, earning the audience's attention. "The final battle to decide whether the Arcs succeed, or fail."

The screen goes back to Evernight, the audience seeing the landing platform completely submerged beneath the Grimm pool. The view zooms in until the scene switches over to a robed figure standing on the main balcony.

The view holds here for a few seconds, before the scene switches to the observation room. There, everyone was dead. Hazel, Tyrian, Watts, Mercury, Adam, Emerald, and many more were all scattered on the floors or tables.

The people mentioned were shaking in terror.

The scene switches to inside the conference room, where to the shock and further horrors of many people, Salem and Cinder were laying on the ground. Both dead, with a few small fires dotting the ground around them.

The two were horrified that they died too. Salem was even more so. 'Impossible! I'm immortal, so I cannot die!' She looked at her dead body, and felt terror gripping tight.

Ozpin and Raven were absolutely terrified. Salem was supposed to be unstoppable, yet this one man managed to slay not only all of her main fighter, but the Queen herself... They felt their bodies feel a bit cold at this.

The view changes once more to the lone figure, this time behind him, before showing his front. The face of Jaune Arc looking down at the desolate land before him. As he sweeps his eyes across the landscape, and glares into the horizon, the audience can see a single tear fall.

(Stop "Anakin's Dark Deeds")

END

Oh man, finally! That took fucking forever to post! I'm sorry for the long wait, I was really stuck with how to present Jacob's evidence, and I'm not that great a public speaker so writing a speech from scratch isn't really my strong suit. Now I know that many of you were hoping for the final battle, but as you can see, this is kind of a long enough chapter. If I added that in, then I wouldn't have updated for who knows how long. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you guys later, peace!

1. Well, why wouldn't Hazel have all their spies on speed dial? It's not like an enemy of theirs could just waltz right in and steal it: they'd have to go through legions of Grimm (both old and new due to the pools there), Salem's faction, then Salem herself. Under normal circumstances, it would be a pretty smart move on his part. He is one of the more powerful and competent of Salem's faction, and it's not like he'd take that specific scroll with him if he leaves. He also isn't arrogant/condescending like Watts, dismissive as Cinder, nor crazy like Tyrian. To me, he would be the best choice for coordinating all the spies. Having the scroll with his hands, in the one place that none of their enemies could normally reach, would be the perfect strategy.

2. What better way to have Salem lower her guard, than to say that her ex had betrayed an entire clan? She'd be more than happy to have more servants to her cause that were betrayed, just like with Hazel.

3. While the clones didn't do anything harmful to the workers, or anyone really, the people are still afraid of them. They did just wipe out an entire academy full of students from the four Kingdoms, and the scary looking helmets aren't exactly helping to lower their fear.

4. Well what else could that room have been? The Separatists had a control room, monitoring the galaxy's battles. With only one world, and no droid army, Salem had to use something to check up on what's going on with the planet. A room that monitors the news networks would've been really useful for that purpose, made even easier since almost all communications are thru the CCT network.

5. Yes, those are Balas. Now while I could've shown them firing Ceros instead, they would've caused a lot of damage, destroying the local environment and severely harming any innocents in the vicinity. With the media covering all this, that is a problem the Arcs don't want. Balas are also quicker to fire in rapid succession, while Ceros take valuable time to build up the necessary power.

6. Against very experienced Huntsmen, these guys would be fairly easy to beat, at least in low numbers. Their hierro is a good substitute for Aura (which the audience still doesn't know that they don't have), but the clones aren't that strong, so it isn't as powerful as the higher tiered Arrancar. However, since many Huntsmen (at least from what I've seen so far) rely mostly on bladed weapons and bullets rather than blunted ones and hand-to-hand combat, that's not too much of an issue. They're also at their most dangerous in large numbers, which is not good when you specialize in the latter two. But then again, they didn't use their more powerful attacks like the Bala or Cero, so it's all irrelevant. It also makes sense since they are supposed to be stealthy. They don't want to alert anyone that something was wrong, so they were ordered to not use their Balas or Ceros in order to give the impression that the school wasn't still a battlefield.

7. Loly Aivirrne, the 33rd Arrancar; and Menoly Mallia, the 34th Arrancar respectively. Both are still reported as alive, plus I ran out of Arrancar to use. Since they are Arrancar with Resurrección, they would still be powerful enough to protect them.

8. Recordings from the hotel: well, how would FNKI have taken those out? They just got their orders, and they didn't know where Jaune would go. Taking out surveillance cameras isn't easy, it would've taken a good amount of effort and time. In every movie I've seen, the hackers would always have to lock onto the security systems physically either by being in the room, or through some wiring in the building; and then spend several minutes either causing the whole thing to crash, or make a prerecording of the area and switch the feeds so as to fool the guards. Both of which FNKI couldn't have done. They just didn't have the time. As for an EMP, that would've fucked up their own tracking along with everything else, so that's a no-go. The police: well, they were already swamped with the White Fang burglaries and Torchwick's escape. A big delay in response is unavoidable, it's just unfortunate that they came after Order 66 was sent out. The damages: remember, Flynt did most of that, and has a weapon with its capabilities well documented, so the police would credit it as the most likely suspect. Jaune's destroyed armor was also taken as evidence since only a member of FNKI had a weapon matching the damage it was dealt, leading more credence of an assassination. That's why he's not shown wearing it. I never said that he put it back on, and with it as damaged as it was I felt there was no reason to even try. Eyewitness accounts: the team wasn't exactly being subtle. Why would they? All they needed to do was keep out of Jaune's line-of-sight, not anyone else's. Another reason for not seeing the point in messing with the surveillance cameras. Plus, Flynt's weapon isn't really quiet while in use, so people would've definitely reported the loud sounds the weapon made. Cinder's scroll: I do believe that she would have a direct line to Lionheart and other Huntsmen because she would've needed to have help in advancing her schemes (like the credentials from Haven). By this point, Salem would've seen Cinder as smart enough to not lose it. The assassination attempt: his grandparents are members of Mistral's Council, and a team from Atlas had threatened them with an arrest without a warrant (the police had checked to make sure), and the damages done could be seen as an assassination attempt since most of the damage was FNKI's doing with little resistance from the old couple. Those two are old, and Jeanne was incapacitated early on (Flynt's weapon could easily point to that due to her heightened senses), and Jacob as a master politician used that. Hospital records: the two were very hurt after the battle, and would've no doubt had to go to the hospital for injuries, so records would've been made, exposing just how they were injured in the first place. Reasons for visiting Vale: remember, they only came to Vale to honor a dead boy's last will and testament, something that they would've needed to prove to their fellow Councilmembers beforehand in order to have them approve any sort of leave of absence. This is also proof since they had no ulterior motives, only going to Vale to honor that wish. The older audience would understand the Arcs' honor system, and the media would just eat that little story up. The data taken: it's the location of Salem's base, the nesting grounds of all Grimm. Can you imagine how shocked and betrayed everyone would feel, if they suddenly knew that two of their trusted Headmasters had known of the homes of their greatest enemy, and didn't do everything in their power to destroy it? Yes, the people wouldn't know about Salem and the danger she represents, but that's not being told to the public. The population at large don't know that there's someone leading the Grimm, mostly believing that they're nothing more than mindless beasts without a leader as Pyrrha said in the last chapter. This news would spark outrage from the public towards Ozpin and Lionheart hiding this very important truth from the world (and probably James too since he was very close to the two, and speculations may happen). The public would begin to think that their reasons for doing this were so they could hold onto their prestige and importance, the Grimm after all is the only reason these Academies existed to begin with. No Grimm, no Huntsmen. James' many seats of power wouldn't exactly help stem this line of thinking. With the Huntsmen being as powerful and dangerous as they are, and their students being used as assassins by the leaders against innocent people, something would need to be done regarding the whole order in their eyes. Not all Huntsmen follow the Headmasters, true, but they are supposed to be completely separate from the government as well in order to prevent them from being used as hired muscle (so who is really in charge of them?), however Atlas disregarded that by merging the military and Huntsmen together. A violation to the treaties they signed after the Great War, and you can make sure that Jacob is going to use that as an example. History is also full of organizations and orders that were attacked due to rumors and fearmongering. Ex: The Knights Templar (they were deemed heretical because a French King wanted to get their famous wealth and made a deal with the Pope, not because they were actually worshiping the Dark Arts), the Jews during the Black Death (many believed that they were the cause of it despite having no evidence whatsoever to prove it, only that they bathed regularly), and so on. People when brought together tend to have a pack mentality, especially when presented with 'evidence' that is very solid in their eyes, and would then follow the ones with the loudest voice.

9. It was either that, or the 'United/Unified Empire'. Don't take this name too seriously people, if you have a better name option, just replace it with yours. Also, for the Councils agreeing, that's actually rather simple. Mistral: the leaders of this new empire are from there, so they would agree since they would get the most influence from this merging. Vale: the Arcs, half of Mistral's Council, were almost killed there, and they did allow James practically free reign in their Kingdom's capital (Ozpin is also seen as one of the people who 'ordered' the attack), so to avoid any backlash, they were forced into agreeing. Atlas: same as Vale, but more severe. Their most influential leader had clearly overstepped his boundaries, they agreed just so that they would not be painted as conspirators, as well as avoid paying any reparations that they would likely pay for otherwise. And Vacuo: well they really did nothing wrong here. They didn't conspire against the Arcs. It's more that the Council there knew not agreeing would cause more harm than good. The Kingdom's surrounded by deserts, and with the others merging they felt that the necessary trade for their survival would be soon cut off. Plus, with a vast army inside their literal doorstep, they couldn't say no because they didn't want their people in any potential danger (not that they were in any, but they don't know that).

10. For those who say that these people wouldn't be so quick to praise him, well let's look at history again. It is filled with speeches that were designed to have the most impact dealt to the most people that would respond to it positively. There's a reason why the audience were all older than normal. They would've known (or heard) about the reputation and honor system of the Arcs, how an Arc would never go back on their word. If Jacob promises that he would keep the people safe, they would know that he would do whatever it took to keep it. And with the reporters all telling of how trustworthy the Arcs are, the people watching this across the world would be more willing to give this a shot. Also, with the audience applauding him (including the Council members in attendance), shouting praises to him, it would show the people of Remnant that he has support, even if it really isn't; a small but loud audience is just as impactful as a large one, and Amity Coliseum is by no means small. Lastly, even though he's calling it an Empire, it's really not all that different from the Kingdoms. Why call it a Kingdom if there's no King? With the Councils still having some measure of power, it would give the people a sense of empowerment and loyalty since their votes still impacts who is in charge of the government. It would also have the affect of still having a sense of normalcy. The people are used to a Council of officials for decades, and to suddenly change that to a government ruled by a single person would cause a lot of strife, no matter how much the majority supports it.